by Jo Marshall
Illustrated by D.W. Murray
Published by CreateSpace on November 17, 2011
370 pages – ages 9+

*Taken from the Twig stories website – ”Twigs are impish stick creatures – not much taller than robins. Tiny leaves sprout from their arms and legs, and their toes are very curly like roots. Their long, leafy hair can be many different colors – emerald, bronze, flaming red, and gold, for example. Twigs live in all sorts of trees, but the knotholes of enormous ancient cedars, big leaf maple, silver-leafed poplar, and whitebark pine are their favorite havens.”

The Northern Forest is under attack! Bark Beetles (barkbiters) have killed the trees in the forest and now the Twigs are in hiding. When Leaf (a Twig from the Old Seedar) hears about their problems, he goes to help but he is unaware of the evil barkbiters! When he gets to the twigs, Leaf accidentally started a fire on the dry wood, so now, they are running from millions of barkbiters and a huge forest fire! Can one little Twig save the forest and his fellow Twigs?!?

This story was as awesome as the first book in the series, Leaf and the Rushing Waters – read my review HERE. Leaf and the Sky of FIre, was exciting and fun to read. The illustrations through the book are fabulous. Mr. Murray really drew great representations of the Twigs and they really helped me picture the story in my mind. I like that this is a great adventure book with excitement and danger, but it is totally appropriate for younger kids. The book also teaches about environmental issues (like bark beetles) that kids should know about. I thought a couple of characters could have been described a bit better in the text (like Veil – I was surprised to figure out he was a chameleon) but overall the world that Ms. Marshall created with the Twigs is just awesome! I think kids and adults will love Twig stories!

Five out of five book worms for Leaf & the Sky of Fire!

Ms. Marshall does great work to help people learn about conservation and helping the environment. In fact she shares the money she makes from her books with “nonprofit groups concerned with wildlife protection, climate change research, nature conservancy, and forest preservation.”

I donated my copies of “Leaf and the Rushing Waters” and “Leaf and the Sky of FIre” to the Perkiomen Watershed Conservancy because they lost their ENTIRE children’s library when hurricane Irene hit our area! They were VERY happy to get Ms. Marshall’s books!

To learn where to purchase the Twig Story books and to learn more about them, please visit the Twig Stories website by clocking HERE!

I can’t wait for the next book “Leaf and the Long Ice” to come out this year!

I always marvel over the fascinating ideas people come up with for children’s books. It’s so great you are doing these reviews, Eric, (and such good ones, too) so that these stories are more widely introduced.
This story looks wonderful, I’m thinking my seven-year-old grandson would enjoy this series.
Thanks for another great job.🙂

What a fascinating topic for a children’s picture book, Erik…thanks for sharing it with us. Can’t wait to check it out at our library. The illustrations look delightful…perfect for a visual learner like me!

Thank you so much, Erik, for the exciting 5 bookworm review. Your good opinion really makes my day! I’m delighted you enjoyed the story, and especially that you consider it valuable for learning about the environment and conservation issues. I’ll do my best to describe the creatures better in the next two stories, so you know right away what they are. Thanks, too, for donating the book to the Perkiomen Watershed Conservancy. Their youth programs and goals are awesome!

Thank you, Lynn, Jarm, and Catherine for your enthusiasm and encouraging comments. Hoping you all have fun reading the story! Have a lovely summer. Thanks again, Erik!

Thanks, Angela! I try to donate my books to any library, school, or nonprofit that asks for them. It’s a kick just knowing kids have them available there, especially those involved with literacy or conservation. Twigs are really fun to write about. Thanks for your remarks!